When Three Points Collide: Ra's Story Read online

  When Three Points Collide

  The Gods Made Me Do It #9

  By Lisa Oliver

  When Three Points Collide: Ra’s Story (The Gods Made Me Do It #9)

  Copyright © Lisa Oliver, 2020

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Cover Design by Lisa Oliver

  Cover pictures purchased from Shutterstock.

  First Edition December 2020

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author, Lisa Oliver. [email protected]

  No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the internet or any other means, electronic or print, without permission from Lisa Oliver. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights and livelihood is appreciated.

  When Three Points Collide is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All trademarks are owned by the relevant companies and are used for reference purposes in this book only.

  Table of Contents

  Author’s Note

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books By Lisa/Lee Oliver

  Dedication

  To all of you who reach out, to all of you who care and are not afraid of showing it, you live in my heart.

  To Kathy, Carla, and Pat – your efforts in polishing my prose are always appreciated – you are amazing.

  To Phil, as always, your knowledge about my ancient gods help keep me on track.

  They were unstoppable, not because they didn't have failures or doubts, but because they continued on despite them.

  (Adapted from a quote by Beau Taplin)

  Author’s Note

  As always with my Gods series books, I must apologize to scholars who actually study the ancients, and who have created numerous theories on their lives based on extensive research.

  There is very little written about Ra, the Father of Everything who is the focus of this story. Ra, as an entity was often merged with other gods, as in Amun Ra for example. So, for this story I didn’t have a lot to work with. Please remember, all I write is fiction, even if these men seem very real in my head.

  Enjoy the story and hug the ones you love,

  Lisa xx

  Chapter One

  “Death to all intruders!”

  Ra barely blinked as a blade swung down the side of his face, close enough to give him a shave. But his eyes widened, just slightly, as his brand-new iPhone was decimated across the middle, the top half flying four feet away and landing on the grass. Ignoring the sword wielder for the moment, Ra flicked his finger, reversing the actions of the previous ten seconds, and restoring his phone to its original state. Of course, the call he was on was gone.

  Opening his messenger app, Ra painstakingly picked out a text, frowning as he kept scanning the tiny keyboard to find each letter – English language keyboards were laid out in such an unusual fashion. Apologies to you and Egan, he wrote. My phone suffered a sword decimation. Don’t tell Zeus – he’ll have a fit. Will call you later. Only after he’d hit send, still feeling a sense of pride when he did so, did Ra put his phone carefully in his robe pocket and glare at his protector, Seth.

  “Was that absolutely necessary?”

  The Egyptian God of the deserts, foreign lands, thunderstorms and eclipses was a ruggedly handsome man with a very narrow mindset. His long dark hair was tossed around his weathered face, as if he’d ridden ten miles on a horse across the desert, but his ice blue eyes shone. “I heard foreign voices coming from the vicinity of your person. It’s my job to protect you.”

  “I was talking on my phone.”

  Seth sneered. “You were held in a trance, enthralled by gibberish and images coming from that evil silver slab, which even now you hide about your person.” He stepped closer, staring into Ra’s eyes. “Have you been possessed by an evil djinn? Do you need me to rid you of the slab? Can you even talk about it, or does it have you under its evil spell? Blink once for yes and twice for no, if you can’t get the words past your throat.”

  “I am not freaking possessed.” Swiping his hand through the air, Ra zapped Seth out of his personal space. “I was video calling with Paulie. Egan took his first steps today. The pictures you could see were coming from his phone. Surely you recognized the big stone fireplace behind him on the screen. We’ve both been to their house.”

  Seth stuck his long straight nose in the air and folded his arms across his chest, his sword still swinging from his left hand. “I would not allow myself to be enthralled with an inanimate object. You stare into it for hours and have nothing to show for it.”

  “I do not.” Well, maybe a few hours but Ra didn’t have to admit that to Seth. “You had no idea how much I had to go through to get this. First, a three-hour lecture from Zeus about the attributes of every different kind of phone there is before he’d allow me to have this one. Then I had to suffer through a further two days’ worth of his cursing and swearing, put downs about this realm and insults referring to my technical inadequacy as he taught me to make the power blocks necessary to get internet here. But it was all worth it. This phone is super smart. I can ask it any question and it can tell me all the secrets of the world.”

  “You know the secrets of the world.” Seth threw up his hands, his sword glinting in the sun. “You’ve been around since the beginning of time.”

  “I’m talking about the modern world.” Ra refused to be ruffled. He found his new phone fascinating. Paulie had asked him if he’d found an app called YouTube yet, and he couldn’t wait to try it after Paulie insisted he watch a video about a squirrel and a wrecking ball. “It’s time this realm moved into the twenty-first century and that means embracing new technologies and gadgets.”

  “Time has no meaning on our great realm,” Seth scoffed. “The sun shines, stars burn out, seas could rise and fall, and it would make no difference to us. The desert sands will still cover everything when time is done.”

  “They’d better bloody not, especially since those internet blocks aren’t a fan of sand, and for your i
nformation, the passing of time makes a difference to me.” Ra stood up, his robes falling to the ground. “I refuse to allow this realm to wallow in the dark ages. I’m also not going to argue with you about this. My realm, my decisions. But for now, change your clothes. You attacked my phone with a sword – the phone was a gift from Zeus.”

  “My lord?” Seth glanced down at his bare chest, and flowing pants. “These clothes are suitable for anything you would have me do on this realm.”

  “We’re not staying on this realm. We’re going to walk among the mortals.” Ra’s smirk remained even as he clicked his fingers, reverting to what Zeus called his wanna-be student persona. Sure, Ra was shorter as a human than when on his own realm, and maybe he did prefer to dress in jeans and t-shirts, but they were so comfortable. His boots were handcrafted from the finest soft leather and were almost as easy to wear as his sandals. Besides, Ra thought with a grin, Zeus is a fine one to talk – in his human form he looks like a Fae.

  Flicking his dark hair off his face, Ra quirked his eyebrow at his reluctant protector who hadn’t moved. “I gave you a direct order.”

  “You can’t force me to go down there.” Seth shook his head. “My place is here, protecting you as you oversee this realm.”

  “You attacked my phone while I was using it.” Ra pointed to his sharp cheek bone. “I felt the breath of your blade.”

  “And you didn’t even blink. I will take any punishment you deem suitable to make up for the phone you fixed not five seconds after I decimated it, but I see no reason to walk among them.” Seth turned away, looking over at the trees. “Earth is crowded. People jostle each other with no respect. And you can never take a clean breath thanks to all those exhaust fumes coming from those contraptions they ride around in.”

  “The call you interrupted was from Paulie asking me if I’d check in with their little investigator team – the wolf shifter Wesley and his demon mate, Castor. They are on earth – we’re going to earth,” Ra explained with a patience he didn’t feel.

  Seth’s frown lines deepened. “You said young Paulie was sharing details of Egan’s first steps.”

  “Well, of course the conversation progressed after he made his request. Sheesh.” Ra shook his head. “It doesn’t hurt to have a friendly conversation with the man. He’s the mate of Zeus and Egan is an adorable youngster. Of course, Paulie is going to be proud of what the little one is doing, and he wanted to share his excitement with me. I felt honored.”

  “Yes, well, there’s too much of that going on as well.” Seth could be as stubborn as a camel when he wanted to be. “Respected gods from every pantheon are finding mortal mates and breeding like rabbits as though that were an achievement. We can only be thankful the Fates respected us enough to leave us out of their little schemes, as well they should.”

  “It is not every pantheon.” Ra laughed despite his impatience to get moving. “The Norse gods have been touched briefly through Thor, and there have been a few mates found among the ancient Greek gods like Poseidon, Hades and Zeus. And true, then there’s the ancient one Silvanus, and Owen with his ties to the Native American Indian nations, but that’s all. You know yourself, there are hundreds, if not thousands more gods the Fates could choose from, including you. Personally, I hope the Fates do turn their eyes in my direction. I long to have a mate of my own and I’m not the only one with dreams like that. Helios was saying only the other day that he’s actively looking too since Abraxas found his cute little human Jordan. Having a mate is an amazing gift. It means the Fates haven’t forgotten us.”

  “The Greeks always were a soppy bunch.” Seth narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, you long for a mate of your own? You have all the company you could ever desire whenever you want it.”

  “Do I?” Ra gestured at the empty grasslands, framed by trees he’d put in especially for Paulie before the young man was found and claimed by Zeus. “I’m not seeing anybody but you – one of my companions who’s looking to be banished to earth for a month if he keeps refusing a direct order to change his clothes.”

  “It’s not safe down there,” Seth protested, even as a shimmer fell over his body. In the blink of an eye, he was dressed in clothes similar to Ra’s, his hair tamed with a leather tie at the base of his neck. “I don’t know why you insist on looking as though a stiff wind would blow you over every time you walk among the mortals. You seem to forget you’re the Father of Everything.”

  “Which can be a damn lonely position at times.” Ra huffed in exasperation. “Get rid of the damned sword. I don’t want you arrested before we find Wes and Cass.”

  “It’s not fucking safe for you down there. All this nonsense just because I broke your precious phone.” Seth muttered as his sword disappeared.

  “You decimated my phone and interrupted my call which was rude. You’re damn lucky Zeus didn’t see you do it. I’d have to listen to him yelling for a week if he found out. Now shut up and smile. I don’t want you scaring the mortals.” Touching Seth’s shoulder, Ra directed their translocation to Wes and Cass’s last known destination.

  Chapter Two

  “You’re surely not going in there.” Seth’s hand on his arm pulled Ra back into the shadows where they’d landed. “Look at the state of this place. This abode is not suitable for someone of your stature and position, especially when you insist on looking like a man who hasn’t been with his first woman yet.”

  Ra was starting to think he should’ve left Seth at home. Admittedly, the wooden boards on the outside of the structure were sagging slightly and hadn’t seen a paintbrush in decades. It was also true, the motorbikes lined up in front of the porch steps indicated the patrons leaned more towards Sons of Anarchy rather than a church choir. Yes, Zeus had also introduced Ra to the joys of television as well. The yelling coming from inside was colorful, but not violent… although Ra knew enough about mortals to know that could change at any time.

  Shaking off his protector’s hand, Ra grinned. “Cass and Wesley are in there, so I’m going in. But it’s fine. If the thought of holding your own among mortals without your sword worries you, I’m sure the demon will protect me. Not that anyone could harm me anyway. But don’t you worry about it. You run along home. I’ll find you a fitting punishment for wrecking my phone when I return.”

  “You’re pinning your hopes of safety on a demon?” Seth cursed and Ra knew he’d won. It was said that familiarity bred contempt and Seth could be the most contemptuous of anyone, but he refused to consider any being was more capable of protecting Ra’s person than he could. Sure enough, the man was like an overbearing shadow as Ra walked around the corner of the building and yanked open the warped door to go inside.

  It was a bar. Ra already knew that much, but he had second thoughts about going in when the stench of stale beer and smoke intermingled with unwashed flesh hit his nose. More than twenty pairs of eyes watched him as he looked around, not all of the interest friendly. Ra was pleased when he spotted Wes and Cass sitting in the corner closest to the door.

  Wes, dressed in clean and tidy casual clothes looked as out of place as Ra did, but Cass’s worn leather jacket and ripped jeans meant he blended right in. Ra could see the demon’s whole body was rippling with tension and he wondered what the two men were even doing in the rundown bar.

  Ignoring the eyes on him, Ra sauntered to the table, taking an empty chair and sitting down. Seth hovered behind him, probably matching the hostile glances with ones of his own. No one could outglare Seth. Leaning his elbows on the table, Ra broke out another smile. “I must say, this is a very interesting place, isn’t it?”

  “My Lord.” Cass ducked his head quickly and kept his voice low. “No disrespect, but what in Hades name are you doing here? We were expecting the other one.”

  Zeus. Now the location made sense. “The other one and his partner are glued to their son’s side. The little one took his first steps today, which as you know, the other one would take as a sign his son is a genius above all godly bein
gs. I was asked to take his place meaning unfortunately, your little ploy to unsettle him has fallen flat.”

  “I should’ve known it would.” Wes sighed as he stood up. “You can blame him,” he pointed to his mate. “Z has sent us on a fool’s errand this time and Cass isn’t happy about it. Hence this place. Can we go now?” He appealed to the demon. “The stink in this place is playing havoc with my nose.”

  “You wouldn’t even dress up and play the part,” Cass grumbled as he lumbered to his feet. Even in human form he was huge and could easily give Seth a run for his money. “Let’s get out of here then, and we can make our report to this one. Not that there’s much to report.”

  “This case is really getting to him. He hates it when he can’t just wrestle with the bad guys and save the innocents,” Wes confided, his voice so low Ra had to strain to hear him. “He desperately needs to let off some tension.”

  Ra glanced to his side. Yep, there were at least four big guys watching their every move, the grip on their beer bottles tight enough to be menacing. “There’s plenty of opportunity for him to use his fists in here if he wanted to work off his frustrations.”

  Wes moved closer, also keeping an eye on what was going on around them as they shuffled towards the door. “Cass is worried about getting into trouble with Hades,” he whispered in Ra’s ear. “His kind aren’t allowed to start anything on the mortal realm, otherwise I’m sure he would’ve. In fact, I’m sure that’s half the reason why we’re here. I didn’t pick my clothes, he did, knowing damn well it would attract the wrong kind of attention.”

  Patting Wes’s arm, Ra’s grin widened. “Oh, well, if he’s spoiling for a fight, allow me, dear wolf. After all, there’s nothing that says a demon can’t defend himself, or his mate, if someone hits him first.”

  It took just a trickle of magic. Seth and Cass were waiting impatiently by the door. A tiny gust of directed wind, and somehow the two men got their feet tangled, landing with a heavy thud on the table by the bar, where two ladies of negotiable virtue were having a drink.